hi Myra, to answer your question: the photo was taken in the Netherlands: it is the “MIR”, a Russian sail training ship, at home in “St. Petersburg”, built 1987, length: 109m, width: 14m, height: 50m, depth: 6,40m, sailcloth: 2771 m2 – leaving the harbour of Vlissingen, The Netherlands, ZeelandView On Black
I’ve been surprised very much, that without any noise these tall ships have been approaching…
exactly in the same moment, when I shot the photo, a sunbeam hit the sails of the big ship, in the background bad black weather was creeping nearer and nearer …

hi Madhu,
I felt the same like you, writing: “Mangalore. It felt…small and restrictive. I rued the lack of opportunity. My ruling obsession was to get out, to experience a ‘better’ more sophisticated world ‘out there’!” … and then the www / internet came to make us free from any location!

Thank you Frizztext! You’re too kind. In your past challenges, I saw so many great photos; it makes me humble in the face of them!! But you’re sweet to compliment my photo! 🙂 I do want to know, where on earth did you see that sailing ship??

in the Netherlands, it’s a Russian ship; we had been on board before; the sailors were very poor; in the kitchen: some fishes they caught in the sea … the sailors / soldiers all were very thin – and they had no permission to leave their ship during the break in the harbor. I bought a cup from a sailor, so he had money for cigarettes …

Wow! That’s too bad that the poor sailors were so poor and were treated so badly. The ship looks so much grander than that; you would expect these would be kings of the sea!! It was nice of you to buy a cup from one so he could have a smoke. Speaking of Russian ships, that brings to mind the Kursk, the submarine sunk with all hands aboard, in the Barents Sea. I wrote a poem about it after it happened, but I don’t know where it is!! It’s a great story, Frizz. Do you tell it somewhere on your blog?

the reason seems to be, that they did not like to admit, that another Russian ship hit with a torpedo the poor submarine. it was a mistake. military headquarters do not like to apologize – they prefer to say nothing …

yes, you are right, wikipedia talks about British and Norwegian rescue teams – and then:
“Captain Lieutenant Dmitriy Kolesnikov survived. Recovery workers found notes on his body. They showed that 23 sailors (out of 118 aboard) had waited in the dark with him…”

Hope you don’t mind but thought I’d add another “S”, with a slight play on words.http://simplysage.org/2012/05/22/a-z-archive-challenge-s-spent/
The rose signifies time “well-spent” rather than “spent”—meaning life is to be spent well and spent full—not “spent” on meaningless wastes of valuable time, thus exahusting true “life”.
I thought the quote so fitting. Hope you enjoy.
These challenges are incredible. Thanks for doing them.
Peace,
Alexandria